Posts filed under ‘Shows’

I love showing my art at the Kings Mountain Art Fair. It’s held once a year, on Labor Day weekend (end of August/early September). This year marks the show’s 50th anniversary! Woo! Congratulations Kings Mountain! That’s longevity.

If you’re anywhere near the San Francisco Bay Area this Labor Day, you should come. I’ll be in my usual place anchoring the far north end of the show, under the majestic redwood trees. The spectacular forest setting has to be seen to be believed. (The photo above is a view of the fair from near my booth.)

Of course I’ll be showing a whole bunch of brand-new never-before-seen paintings, including several tree paintings in bright, happy colors, as well as some experimental new work. Wanna see? Come to the show! (Subscribers to my highly infrequent email newsletter* get a sneak peek.)

I’m showing my art in the beautiful Beverly Hills Art Show this year. Held in a lovely park in the heart of Beverly Hills, this is easily the best Los Angeles outdoor art show. It’s well worth visiting if you’re in the area.

This is a highly competitive show for artists to get into. I’ve shown here before, but I don’t get accepted every year! So I’m very happy to be back this year.

And of course this show is local for me, so no traveling and no hotels. I get to sleep in my own bed. Ahhhh! That’s nice.

It was a gamble. I knew that. Coming from out of state meant my travel costs were high (there’s no such thing as a cheap hotel in Scottsdale). But it’s such a great show! Everyone says so. I did a lot of research, read lots of reviews, both from artists and from patrons. It sounded perfect. I was ecstatic when I was accepted to participate. It’s not an easy show to get into; the competition is pretty fierce. I was really looking forward to this great show I’d heard so much about.

Note: when a patron says a show is “great” they mean that the art is of consistently high quality and the show is a visual treat. When an artist says a show is “great” they mean that art collectors come to the show and buy lots of art. Usually the two overlap to a high degree.

I had very high hopes for this show.

Unfortunately, my hopes weren’t matched by reality. Frankly, I lost my shirt on this one.

The weather was against us for 2 of the 3 days. Cold winds and rain doused us all day Friday and most of Saturday. That surely dampened spirits. Oh yeah, and it hailed on Friday. Twice.

But actually a lot of people came to the show, in spite of the rain. (They did all leave when the hail started.) And even more people showed up Sunday when the weather was nice. It got quite crowded. So I can’t blame the weather. Plenty of people showed up, more than I expected.

It just wasn’t the right crowd for me. I gave it my best shot and lost. Sometimes that happens.

The good thing is there’s always another show. Up next for me is the Beverly Hills Art Show, May 18-19, 2013. Also a gamble, but at least I get to sleep in my own bed. See you at the show!

An annual tradition, I’m showing my work at the Silverlake Open Studio tour this weekend, November 10-11, 2012. That’s the Silverlake neighborhood in Los Angeles.

Now, my studio isn’t in Silverlake. I sneakily get into the tour by showing at a friend’s studio, which is in Silverlake. Fred Chuang has graciously given me space on the tour for several years now. Here’s the street view:

Fred and I hang our work side by side and then hang out together all weekend. It’s a very casual, drop-in kind of event. We’ll have drinks and munchies, including Fred’s famous turkey chili (mild by default, but possible to hot up with optional saucy additions). Fred’s lovely dogs will be on hand to greet everyone (and beg for chili). It’s good, relaxed fun. I hope we’ll see you there!

If you want to see my latest paintings, you need to come to my next show: the Kings Mountain Art Fair, Labor Day Weekend, September 1-3, 2012.

People who come to the show get first crack at the new stuff. I only put the new paintings up on my website after the show is over, by which time many may have sold. (But people on my mailing list get a sneak peek. You should get on my mailing list.)

The Kings Mountain Art Fair is in the Bay Area of California, “up north” as we Angelenos say.

This year marks the show’s 49th anniversary. (It’s older than I am.) It is an amazing and magical event, not to be missed. I hope to see you there!

Barbara J Carter

Native to California, I've lived elsewhere and only recently returned to my home state. I now live in Los Angeles.

I mostly show my art in outdoor festivals in California. I also occasionally show my work in art galleries or open studio events. You can see an up-to-date list of upcoming shows on my website (click here).